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New Lobster Sedating Technique in Maine Goes Viral

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A restaurant in Maine has made the news in recent days for its new method in sedating lobsters before they’re killed.

Charlotte's Legendary Lobster Pound have started a new process in which they use cannabis to sedate lobsters before they’re boiled alive.

Customers have a choice if they want regular or sedated lobster more humane as it lessens their pain before death. The owner of the restaurant, Charlotte Grill, said the process means the animal is more relaxed when it dies, “if we're going to take a life we have a responsibility to do it as humanely as possible," she told Mount Desert Islander newspaper.

Cannabis is legal in Maine and Gill has a license to grow and supply the plant for medical purposes. Maujuana smoke is blown over the lobsters before they’re boiled but it’s worth pointing out that there is zero scientific research to suggest that the plant has any effect on how they feel pain, or if it even works the same way as it does for humans.

The animal rights group, PETA, responded to the news with a statement in Marijuan Moment, they said ““It is highly unlikely that getting a lobster high would make a lick of difference when it comes to the full-blown agony of being boiled or steamed alive.”

Crustaceans are often kept alive before cooking to keep bacteria down. Whatever your views on cooking the food, it has been proven the crustacean does feel pain, in fact, part of the research to prove this is what led to Switzerland passing new laws in 2018 to force people to stun them before cooking, avoiding unnecessary suffering to the animal.

As the debate around the topic in Maine continues, it’s safe to say the restaurant’s put a whole new spin on the idea of ‘bake lobster’.